Tag Archives: Kokanee Salmon

Rivers & Oceans

Under Investigation: Lois Lake Fish Farm

It has been five days since the Watershed Watch Salmon Society issued a press release stating Agrimarine’s semi-closed containment fish farm on Lois Lake, east of Powell River, may have been operating illegally since at least July 21, 2021. 

A provincial bullet point template of that date, from BC’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, states, “DFO has determined that the new infrastructure is not located within the associated FLNR Crown land tenure and therefore (is) in non-compliance.” 

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Rivers & Oceans

‘Shockingly huge’ steelhead salmon escape fish farm, threatening B.C.’s Lois Lake

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Most B.C. fishing guides would be thrilled if a client pulled a 30-pound rainbow trout from the lake during an expedition.

But the scenario is cause for concern on Lois Lake, said Pat Demeester, who has been an angler and guide in the Powell River region on the Sunshine Coast for decades. 

Massive farm-raised rainbow trout — marketed as sustainably raised Lois Lake steelhead — have been escaping from the AgriMarine aquaculture site into Lois Lake and adjoining Khartoum Lake, southeast of Powell River, he said. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Where to find qathet’s Ghost Salmon

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dam building over the last century destroyed all of qathet’s major salmon runs, and several small ones, too. Just a whisper remains of this region’s once-majestic returns.

Local experts are re-imagining these rivers for the future. For salmon. For ecosystems. And for reconciliation.

Standing on the rocky banks of the Powell River, you can see zero salmon. But 100 years ago, before the mill, you would have seen thousands.

These are the ghost salmon.

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History, Rivers & Oceans

Dammed for 100 years

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s been a century since sockeye and chum have spawned in Unwin Lake. That’s because the creek between Desolation Sound and Unwin was dammed for logging.

Now, Tla’amin Nation’s new lands and resources director, Denise Smith, is spearheading a project to reintroduce the salmon.

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